


The Joining

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 15:57:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3734767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Rodney need to get married to prevent a local apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Joining

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #199 "apocalypse"

“Alas, colonel,” said the village leader of PX-912, a kindly, middle-aged man named Morven, “while we normally, we would be eager to make so advantageous a trade as surly you suggest, I cannot advocate for a bargain our people will be unable to fulfill it, equally unable as we are to avoid the coming cataclysm.”

“Cataclysm?” Rodney repeated, alarmed.

“Oh, you are in no danger,” Morven assured him. “It is not our planet that is ending, but our world.”

“How do you know?” asked John, because this was a first for them— most planets believed the Wraith would kill them, not weird prophesies.

“The Wraith are all but defeated,” Teyla added. “Your world is safe.”

Morven smiled. “Our end has been long foretold, Traveler Emmagan, written in the most ancient records of our people. The signs have already begun and we are doing our best to prepare.”

“Can we hear it?’ Ronon asked. “The foretelling thing?”

“Of course, Traveler Dex,” said Morven.

He began to recite, something that sounded like it had come straight from a bad fantasy novel. John caught overly-poetic references to a solar eclipse and certain cycles of crop growth, and he blinked as Morven finished, “So you see, Travelers, it is hopeless.”

“But…” Rodney began, clearly ramping up for a rant against ignorant backwater cultures, and John interrupted smoothly, “What if we could help?”

“We appreciate the thought, Colonel Sheppard,” said Morven. “But it is quite impossible. Perhaps you misunderstood the foretelling— cataclysm can only be prevented by a joining and only by the joining of a man from the northern leaves. There was once a village in the northern woods, but it was culled generations ago.”

“Could you not send people to live there again?” Teyla asked.

Morven shook his head. “Our scholars did not believe the foretelling until this solar cycle, when the signs began. The joining must take place before the setting of the sun tomorrow. Even if we _had_ a man from the northern leaves, where would we find his mate, the master of the sky, who saw the future and returned.”

There was a pause, then Ronon said, “They’ll do it.”

“Do what?” asked Rodney.

“The joining,” said Ronon. He turned to Morven. “McKay’s from a northern country on their planet and his flag’s got a leaf on it. Sheppard can fly, planes and spaceships and stuff, and he’s been to the future.”

“Truly?” asked Morven, eyes wide.

“Well, yeah,” said John.

“And you two would join, to save our world?”

“A joining is a marriage, right?” said Rodney, suspicious. “Just a wedding? Whatever you call it here, two people making public vows? No ‘device of the Ancestors’, or sacred drinks, or…or bloodletting…”

Morven shook his head, smiling. “The joining requires only your commitment to one another. It is traditional to share a glass of wine at the conclusion of the ceremony, but it is not necessary.”

“Okay,” said John, on a breath. He held out a hand. “Okay. Rodney, you wanna?”

“Maybe not, after a proposal like that,” the scientist scoffed, but he took John’s hand.

Morven beamed at them. “Oh, thank you, Travelers— _friends_ ,” he said. “I will make the preparations!”

Teyla moved closer as the village leader raced off. “Congratulations,” she said.

“Check in with Atlantis,” John said, instead of something stupid and sentimental. “Have Lorne send a cloaked ‘jumper to scan the planet, make sure there aren’t _actually_ any cataclysms waiting to happen.”

She smirked. “Do you not believe that marrying Rodney will prevent such a disaster?”

John snorted, “Rodney _is_ a cataclysm,” and Teyla patted his arm before she left.

Lorne brought the ‘jumper himself and met John’s team in the hastily-decorated village square. “All clear, sir,” he said. “Oh, and I thought you might want these.”

He held out a small, battered sample container and John took it, tipping two gold bands out onto his palm, the rings that were usually kept in the carved wooden bowl on their dresser while he and Rodney were on missions.

“Thanks,” said John. “But this isn’t any more official than the last time we did this.”

Lorne smiled. “I don’t know, sir. Maybe seventh time _is_ the charm.”

THE END


End file.
